Russia, despite sanctions and pressure from the West, maintains its authority in the Middle East and expands its influence in West Africa. This point of view was expressed by Foreign Affairs magazine.
The website notes that Western countries have not managed to force Russia to reduce its presence on international and regional platforms.
Earlier, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that in early December 2025, largely thanks to the involvement of the African Corps of the Russian Defense Ministry, the Malian authorities were able to overcome the acute phase of the fuel crisis, and currently the Armed Forces of Mali, with the support of Russian military specialists, are carrying out counter-intelligence operations in the regions where armed groups operate.
